CWI Services Case Study: 003
Penstock Fabrication Quality Management System
1 Background
Chen Welding Integrity (CWI) Services was the consultant for the development of the penstock
fabrication quality management system for the EPC contractor (AG Investment) of the Divune
Hydropower Project (DHPP). The quality management system was developed to manage the quality of
the entire fabrication and installation process of the 2km steel penstock to convey 90m head pressure.
The quality management system was developed to include the elements of quality control of fabrication
processes and traceability control.
2 Approach
2.1
Overview
CWI Services deployed an experienced and certified International Welding Engineer (CertIWE) to
develop the penstock fabrication quality management system. The CertIWE of CWI Services involved
in the entire cycle of the system development which from planning to implementation. The penstock
quality management system is summarised in Figure 1.
2.2
Planning
The quality management system developed by the certified international welding engineer of CWI
Services was based on the quality control and traceability management requirements of ISO 3834-2.
The welding fabrication quality control best practices e.g inspection and test plan (ITP) was also
adopted in the development process.
The CWI Services CertIWE worked with the engineering team to understand the design of the penstock
and the fabrication quality requirements e.g welding specification, dimension tolerances, inspection
specification, painting specification etc. Furthermore, dialogue with the construction team was also
conducted to understand the fabrication process, fabrication facilities, fabrication and project site
conditions. The dialogue was conducted to ensure the quality management system and methodology
to be implemented are practical and implementable, also the expected results are achievable at both
workshop and site environment.
2.3
Development
The quality management system adopted industrial widely used ITP methodology as a primary control
document. The ITP’s for penstock was derived in accordance with the specific project requirements and
industrial best practices. The ITP’s for the penstock fabrication outline the quality control activities in
fabrication process sequence, reference procedure and acceptance criteria, quality record and
responsible personnel.
In order to establish the traceability of every weld joint, a specific weld identity system was developed.
The weld identity system provides the information of welding location, type of weld joint, penstock
section number and penstock component. The weld identity of each weld joint was used in all the quality
control activities from material inspection, non-destructive tests and dimension control.
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In term of during fabrication control, a weld matrix system was developed to provide the real time
information each weld joint related to material, weld identity, welder, welding procedure and quality
control status and results. Weld matrix was also designed to be printed on penstock sections during
fabrication so that relevant information can be collected for producing quality records.
The acceptance criteria for each quality control activities were derived from the applicable standards,
e.g ASME Section VIII prior to start of fabrication. This is to ensure the same acceptance criteria would
be applied to assess the quality control results in both workshop fabrication and site installation stages.
In order to ensure quality of the quality records, record templates for all the quality control activities
were derived prior to start of fabrication in accordance with the record requirements of the applicable
standards e.g ASME Section V for non-destructive testing. The quality records were developed to
include traceability mechanism for different perspective.
For summarising quality control results of each penstock section, weld map system was developed to
record the quality control results, material identity, welder identity and reference welding procedure of
each weld joint. The weld map report was developed based on the concept of material mill certificate
to present the information of quality control and fabrication information of penstock sections.
2.4
Implementation
During the workshop fabrication stage, the CertIWE of CWI services provided in-situ implementation
support to the fabrication contractor. During the implementation support, the fabrication contractor was
coahed to derive weld identity, produce weld matrix, use of quality control acceptance criteria, use of
quality record templates for the production of quality records. Support related to manage of quality
records was also provided to ensure the quality records comply with the manufacturing data record
compilation and traceability requirements.
Furthermore, regular dialogue was conducted to follow up the implementation status and provide
practical solutions to resolve issues faced in the implementation process. The CertIWE of CWI Services
also reviewed the quality records regularly to ensure the traceability and quality requirements of the
quality records and implementation process are complied with philosophy of the penstock fabrication
quality management system.
3 Outcomes
The quality management system developed by CWI Services assisted the EPC Contractor to comply
with the quality requirements of the project specification and applicable standards during the fabrication
and installation process of the 2km steel penstock.
The quality records produced under the requirements of the penstock fabrication quality management
system are inter-traceable from different quality records. The welding and quality control information
e.g material, weld joint, personnel, quality results and quality record can be easily obtained by following
the traceable route embedded in the penstock fabrication quality management system.
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Figure 1 Penstock fabrication quality management system
Contact us
Further information related to the quality management support, please visit www.cwi-services.com
For enquiry related to quality management support, please contact us at funwee.chen@cwiservices.com
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